AEDT: A new concept for ecological dynamics in the ever-changing world.

• Main Author: Peter Chesson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-05-01
• Series: PLoS Biology
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5466337?pdf=render

The important concept of equilibrium has always been controversial in ecology, but a new, more general concept, an asymptotic environmentally determined trajectory (AEDT), overcomes many concerns with equilibrium by realistically incorporating long-term climate change while retaining much of the predictive power of a stable equilibrium. A population or ecological community is predicted to approach its AEDT, which is a function of time reflecting environmental history and biology. The AEDT invokes familiar questions and predictions but in a more realistic context in which consideration of past environments and a future changing profoundly due to human influence becomes possible. Strong applications are also predicted in population genetics, evolution, earth sciences, and economics.